commented out

Oblivion has been out for several months now, quite long enough for the Elder Scrolls mod community to work their voodoo. Aside from the official downloadable content, here’s a list of mods I’m currently using for my gameplay experience:

• BT Mod - Oblivion’s interface feels much too console-inspired for my tastes. It’s an effective interface, but it feels too limited for my liking. The BT Mod allows you to tweak the interface to your preferences. Download from the BT Mod web site.
• LOD Textures - Replace the distance textures with higher resolution versions for a much nicer look. Download from TESSource.
• Normal Map Textures - Use replacement normal maps along with the LOD textures to further improve the distance visuals. Download from TESSource.
• Short Grass - Shortens the grass. No more getting lost in tall grass, especially if you’re a wood elf. Download from TESSource.
• Advanced Water Modification - Improves the overall quality of water both above and below the surface for a more realistic visual experience. Download from TESSource.
• Illumination Within Revived - Add ambient light coming from inside the buildings around cities. The newly illuminated windows adds an excellent effect at night. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• Book Jacket replacer - Replace the generic book jacket textures with customized textures that display the title of the book. Download from TESSource.
• Natural Environments - Tweaks the environment in various ways for a more pleasing aesthetic experience. The general colors are made a little warmer, vegetation is given a little facelift, and weather is more varied. Download from TESSource.
• Adventurers Oblivion 0.5 - The Adventurers mod intends to tweak the overall game balance. For instance, lowly bandits will no longer come equipped with full glass armor and ebony weaponry. I like the 0.5 version because it tweaks just enough. You can get the latest version from the Adventurers site, or get the 0.5 version.
• Movable Bodies - Tweaks the body physics just a bit to make bodies easier to drag. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• Anywhere Sittable - For the roleplaying type who’d like to kick back and relax anywhere. Relax on the Imperial docks, at the foot of a statue, or anywhere else you can think of. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• Palace Armor - I really like the white palace armor, and think it’s a shame (and ridiculous) that you can’t get it for yourself. This mod rectifies that. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• Reznod’s Mannequins - Display your hard-earned armor and weaponry in style with a posable mannequin. Comes in wood and marble flavors. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• Vagabond’s Better Gold - Improves the look of the gold texture. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• Vagabond’s Real Katanas Part 1 - Excellent katana models both one-handed and two-handed. Add them on their own, or use enchanted versions to replace some unique Akaviri weapons. Download from Planet Elder Scrolls.

Newest additions (as of August 9, 2006):

• Myths and Legends - Search for lost relics in this challenging treasure hunt. Currently it has roughly a dozen new weapons, with more content on the way. Download from TESSource, Planet Elder Scrolls, or TESFiles.
• Decorator Assistant - Is decorating your classy Cheydinhal home a chore? The Decorator Assistant is a useful tool for easily placing your items exactly as you want them. Download from TESSource.
• Harvest Mod - After harvesting an ingredient, the object is removed from the game world. Not only is it easier to tell what you’ve already collected, but it also adds a touch of immersion to the game. Download from TESSource.
• Color Map Mod - Colors the Oblivion map to show grasslands, cold regions, etc. I think it makes the map a little more readable and aesthetically pleasing. Download from TESSource. Comes in omod format so you’ll need the Oblivion Mod Manager, which you can get from Planet Elder Scrolls.
• The Golden Arrow Archer Shop - Need an easy place to refill your quiver? Stop by The Golden Arrow, just east of the Imperial City. After a while, it’s just easier to have one place to come back to for restocking instead of traipsing all over the province. Download from TESSource.

Prey puts you in the role of Tommy, a Cherokee who finds himself fighting for his freedom after being abducted by aliens along with his grandfather and girlfriend, Jen. Aboard the massive ship, called The Sphere, you’ll find yourself in an environment that’s a mix of organic and technological. Within the first several minutes you’re set free by an unknown ally, and with your trusty wrench in hand the battle for freedom begins.

Graphics: Prey uses the Doom 3 engine, which does an excellent job with curvy, organic environments. The texturing is well-done, and appropriately gross in the living parts of the ship. Weapon effects are likewise well-done, from muzzle-flashes to explosions and beam effects. You can expect to find all the standard bump mapping, normal mapping, and whatnot. The engine really shines with the new portal effects; the other side of the portal is rendered completely in real-time with no drop in framerate.

Sound: Weapon effects are well done, both bullet and energy effects are pleasing to the ear. Environmental effects are par for the course, pleasing but nothing overtly special. Jeremy Soule and Julian Soule headed up the soundtrack which kicks in during certain moments of the game and is par for the course for a Jeremy Soule offering (read: excellent).

Gameplay: Prey’s core gameplay is standard shooter fair: get a weapon and shoot masses of enemies in various shapes and sizes. However, the game offers a few added twists that spice things up nicely. First, is the portal technology which enemies will often use to get the drop on you. Moving through portals is a seamless experience and is used to great effect in several instances, such as a transition to a miniature planet in a glass case, or a portal-based maze that where you can see yourself through other portals as you navigate it.

The second trick Prey pulls off is gravity manipulation. As disorienting as it can be, the ability to alter gravity is undeniably cool. Switches can be used to shift the flow of gravity, effectively turning a room upside down, and specialized walkways allow you to traverse an area from floor to wall to ceiling with ease. Objects can even be given their own gravitational properties, so you might find yourself jumping from one place and reorienting yourself to a completely different direction as you land on an object with stronger gravitational pull.

Spirit walking is an interesting ability that allows you to leave your body to deal with otherwise impassable obstacles such as force fields and gaps too wide to jump across. Many puzzles require the use of spirit walking and while some of them feel like filler, most are intuitive. For example, one instance requires two switches to be thrown almost simultaneously in order to unlock access to the next section. By hitting one switch with your spirit, and then the other yourself, you’re able to proceed.

In keeping with spiritual abilities, you can’t actually die. Instead, you fight fallen souls in a spiritual world to replenish your physical health and spirit power. Once resurrected, you pick up right where you left off. It’s an interesting idea, but it sort of removes some of the tension since you’re guaranteed to eventually work your way through even the toughest spots. That being said, I give credit to the developers for removing one of the oldest gameplay hooks ever (the ability to lose due to character death) for the sake of a story-oriented option (strength of spirit and ressurection).

The weaponry is a well designed mix of technological and organic, filling out the usual shooter roles of machine gun, heavy machine gun, rocket launcher, etc. The one weapon that stands out is the leech gun, which takes one of four energy types from wall-mounted ports, and it’s quite a fun weapon to use.

Overall: While Prey’s core gameplay is nothing more than your standard shooter fair, it offers up enough twists and gimmicks to be a worthy addition to your gaming library. The game goes by rather quickly, but I attribute this to being spared from the dreary cycle of dying and reloading a save game.